For over 40 years since the passage of the Civil Service Reform Act, federal agencies have not been required to justify the imposition of a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) in employee appeals of performance-based removals. While employees were free to challenge their removal for purported failure on a PIP, the MSPB did not require agencies to prove the employee should have been on a PIP in the first place. On March 11, 2021, in a landmark opinion, a panel of Federal Circuit judges ruled that, contrary to decades of MSPB rulings, the plain language of a statutory provision of the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 required the agency to establish that an employee had unsatisfactory performance both before and during the PIP. Following the Federal Circuit’s opinion, the government did not file any petition for rehearing by that extended deadline so the panel opinion in Santos v. NASA remains the law. In this live webinar, an attorney from Shaw Bransford & Roth will explain the Federal Circuit's holding and its practical application for agencies. Learn more and register. This event is $18.
